Blockchain Startup Cypherium, IC3 Partner On Scaling Research

Blockchain firm Cypherium has partnered with the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (IC3) to develop new blockchain scaling solutions.

Led by co-founder Sky Guo, Cypherium is building a hybrid blockchain to provide optimal on-chain scalability. The company is aiming to address blockchain’s scalability and governance issues by combining two consensus mechanisms – Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT). The company plans to use its CPH token to power transactions and smart contract functionality for decentralized apps and a deferred payments system. It will launch an initial coin offering (ICO) for its CPH token this year.

IC3 is an initiative of faculty members at Cornell University, Cornell Tech, UC Berkeley, UIUC, and the Technion. It offers expertise in computer science that spans cryptography, distributed systems, game theory, programming languages, and system security techniques. IC3’s innovations include new blockchains, smart contracts, and cryptocurrency technologies.

IC3 is also the developer of blockchain protocol Bitcoin-NG. The protocol addresses the scalability bottleneck by enabling the bitcoin network to achieve the highest throughput allowed by the network conditions. Paradoxically, not only does it improve transaction throughput, it also reduces transaction latencies. It is possible to get an initial transaction confirmation in seconds rather than in minutes. And it does so without changing bitcoin’s open architecture and trust model.

The partnership will focus on research and application of methodologies that will solve scalability, compliance, governance, and performance issues with widespread blockchain adoption.

Cypherium co-founder Sky Guo said the partnership would help his company grow as it attempts to bring its blockchain to a mainstream audience.